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Google Buys Urchin Web Analytics

Posted by Zonk on from the another-feather-in-their-cap dept.

sho222 writes "Business Week, BMP Today, and others are reporting that Google agreed late Monday to aqcuire Urchin Software Corporation. Urchin boasts that their web analytics and marketing intelligence software is used by millions of sites worldwide and 20% of Fortune 500 companies. Google's VP of Product Management explains that, "This technology will be a valuable addition to Google's suite of advertising and publishing products." The deal is set to close in late April."

6 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. This is pretty exciting. by Sheetrock · · Score: 5, Insightful
    In addition to being the penultimate search engine, Google is becoming quite feature-rich as well. It's pretty interesting to realize the subtle way in which they've risen to the top by simply providing what people want -- no more, no less -- in this age when we are saturated with online advertising on every other Internet site.

    So cheers to Google.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:This is pretty exciting. by AKAImBatman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      LOL! Close, very close. :-)

      The answer is, "The search engine that comes after Google." Which, if you think about it, makes for a really annoying reason to use the word "penultimate". :-)

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  2. Politics makes strange bedfellows... by tquinlan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...but capitalism makes excellent ones.

    This is an excellent match. It makes perfect sense that a web advertising company would buy a web analytics company, and I can't wait to see the results show up in AdSense.

    --
    DBA? Software Engineer? My company is hiring! Click
  3. I do love google by CSMastermind · · Score: 2, Insightful

    However I worry about their rapid asscention into a computer gaint. With this purchase they add to their already impressive profile as an inovative technology leader. I'm sure MS looked much the same way back in the early 90s. I've been using yahoo more lately but their interface is far too confused to make me want to use them regualarly. Now repersents a time when google open to an attack from a well directed company who has the software to compete with them in the scearch market. Lets hope that google doesn't go monoply on us.

  4. deWORSification by Mrs.+Grundy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Peter Lynch, in his pop-investor books, talks about young companies who suddenly come into a lot of cash through an IPO and stop innovating and try to grow via purchases of ever-expanding diversity. He calls this deworsification when companies grow out of their expertise. This isn't always bad--a company needs to grow after all--but it can often be a sign of a company that isn't going to be innovating the same way. Now, it's not like google just went out and bought a fast-food franchise (although 'google burger' has a nice ring to it), but If I was a stock holder in google I might be looking closely at this strategy and start looking around for another innovative start-up whose valuation isn't so high and who is concentrating on a smaller array of products.

  5. Re:Can they do no wrong? by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm guessing they're divertifying their markets incase microsoft does end up with the dominant search engine (it shouldn't happen, but it could - ive been seeing a lot of adverts on TV for msn search recently (UK) and it'l be the default search engine in IE7.